This invention relates to a novel configuration for a controller which can be used by elderly persons, disabled persons and hospital patients. People usually remove their eyeglasses when in bed and this makes it difficult to find a conventional switch in a darkened room when attempting to locate an electrical device such as a lamp near a bed. Use of this controller overcomes that difficulty. The device uses an illuminated rocker switch, of proven reliability, enclosed in a shock resistant plastic case. The device is connected to a power cord which terminates in a special split plug.
There are illuminated wall switches available, some with LED lights which cannot be used by persons in bed. There is a portable device made by Lutron Electronics under U.S. Pat. No. 4,104,606 that has a small LED light which is difficult for an elderly person to see in a dark room. The present device has a projection on the case which forms an aperture though which a string may be inserted to suspend the device for use in a sick bed or to childproof a room when appliances such as fans or electric heaters are being used.